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  Farming

Medieval farmers used a three system of planting. Two fields were sown with crops. The third was left empty. Wheat was planted in winter and barley or oats in spring.  The seeds were scattered by hand by the peasants. Some of the crops were fertilized with cow manure.

                Farming was a full time job.  The crop growing land around the village or castle was divided into three large fields.  The peasants were given a strip of land to farm for them selves.  But they all worked together hoeing, plowing, and haymaking. A failed harvest meant the whole village would starve, the bailiff was employed by the lord to oversee the work. Everyone in the village shared in haymaking. Hay was very important because it provided the only food for farm animals in the winter since there was usually not enough cattle most cattle had to be killed in late autumn.

Farming jobs

Birds scaring- in spring when birds started coming children throw stones at the birds.

Sowing seed- peasants use a seed lip to carry seeds. Seeds were scattered by hand by the peasants.

Harrowing- when the lord or baron make sure the seeds cover the soil.

Plowing was usually done in March or November. A team of ox would drag the heavy wooden plow across the lands or field.

Harvest Time

  In the late summer the women and children would help the men harvest their crops. They would cut the wheat with sickles or scythes. Grasping each clump tightly so all the grains would not fall out. The wheat was then tied in bundles put in stocks in the field, so it could ripen. Then it was loaded on carts and brought to the barn. It was then beaten or flailed with a hinged stick to loosen the grains from the ears. The grain was then collected.

Sheep Shearing

     The sheep were sheared in springtime for wool.  Wool trade was one of the most prosperous of the Middle Ages.      

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